Do lockdowns help fight coronavirus? Not really says WHO expert

New Delhi, Mar 23: Are lockdowns sufficient to curb the spread of the coronavirus? An expert with the World Health Organisation says that countries cannot simply lockdown their societies to defeat coronavirus.

However public health measures are needed to avoid a resurgent of the virus later on, Mike Ryan, top emergency expert with the WHO told BBC in an interview.

What we really need to focus on is financing those who are sick, those who have the virus and isolate them. We need to also find their contacts and isolate them, Ryan also said.

If we do not put in place the strong public health measures now, when those movement restrictions and lockdowns are life, the danger of the disease will jump back, he also said.

He further said that examples of China, South Korea and Singapore which coupled restrictions with rigorous measures to test every possible suspect, provided a model for Europe. Once the transmission is suppressed, then we have to go after the virus, he also said.